Devil's Advocate
by kitsuneonna
Summary: A heartwarming tale of horror! Violent bloodshed and romantic moonlit beaches! Er, that doesn't sound right... ah, just read it. XL, naturally.
1. Chapter One Part One

Oh yeah, disclaimer. Shows how much it really matters, doesn't it? This has been up for two years now without one. I don't own it, no matter that some have wished otherwise.

Devil's Advocate

Chapter One:

Purgatory

A Slayers fanfiction

By kitsuneonna

The once-proud Mazoku spun and writhed in the remains of his lost Master's audience chamber. Much like himself, the room was a shambles, broken down and forgotten. Long ago, this chamber in which he'd chosen to spend his vigil had been brightly lit with candles, as his Master had liked. He had let them gutter out, actually preferred it that way. He saw perfectly well enough in the pitch-blackness anyway.

Over one hundred years of waiting for her had broken him down into a shadow of his former self. If he had once been sure of the reason for her vanishing, he was no longer. He now only knew her to be gone, leaving him bereft of everything and mad. His natural order was disrupted, her absence creating a vacuum from which no commands issued. To those unfamiliar with the Mazoku race, this would only seem a minor setback. The reality of his situation was that he had been created to follow orders. The commands of the Master shaped the mind of the minion. All Mazoku knew that and accepted it as their natural order.

So why did he still continue to exist as an abomination? He wasn't sure exactly, maybe his duty, but surely there was something more. He crouched in wait, maybe for the ragged hole in himself to fill, or his memories to fully return and his name to be restored. He no longer remembered any of it. He was aware of once having been much more, but the shreds of that knowledge faded and escaped his grasp.

He was also quite certain he looked different as well, but what had changed about himself he couldn't say. For all intents and purposes, he appeared as a whirling, tilting tornado—from which long, powerful snake-like arms spread all over the island. Three eyes opened, peering intently from the maelstrom of the Mazoku's being. The eyes vanished and he was once again reassured nothing in the room had moved or changed.

Time and again disjointed memories, snippets of past conversations he had engaged in or overheard, returned to taunt him. He laughed aloud, breaking the silence of the room. A piercing, windy whisper emanated from him. "My mind is my power… who said that?" The whispers echoed and died.

Early on, before his total descent into madness, he had created one remaining purpose to give some reason for his continued existence, allowing him to escape total dissolution. He would protect what was once hers until the end of the world or his death; whichever came first. There were still secrets to be kept after all. It was all the service he could offer for the sake of a Master who might be no more.

There had been a few occasions in the past when he had risen up in violent defense of his Master's lair. He could remember one such encounter vividly although he was sure there had been more. A pair of low-level Mazoku had been sniffing around, investigating and probing the island's defenses. They had been brazenly confident, apparently assuming _he_ was gone as well as his Master. Relishing the act of proving them wrong he'd attacked.

Shocked by his unexpected presence, the weaker minions had declared him an abomination. A Mazoku was nothing without its master.

'"_An abomination I may be,_" he had whispered to them seconds before their obliteration, "_but you see, I have strength and that is all that matters in the end_."' He had not known, nor had he cared whose minions they were. He had only known they were not welcome.

Of course, now and then coherency would return and he would wonder why he hadn't played with them longer. If only for some fun had they lasted, some information, at least some sustenance, because he was _starving_. The hunger alone made his coils twitch.

And so, years passed him by.

oOo

The approach of a ship one day was surprising and new. He had no recollection of such a thing ever happening before, although that meant nothing. The beings manning this ship were insignificantly, laughably weak but at last he remembered their race. He had forgotten entirely that humans existed, which would have been surprising knowledge to any who might have remembered the Trickster Priest.

The possibility anyone might consider landing at Wolfpack Island to re-supply had never occurred to him. The humans were merely another sort of intruder, although he had to admit their death agonies were delicious. But sadly the fun was over far too soon. He left their torn bodies littering his beach as a warning or a challenge to all the others on the ship. The sudden and shocking carnage was obviously taken as the former because the ship turned about and fled the island, leaving him again to his disjointed thoughts.

He soon found out however, that humans did not learn the same lessons from a good warning as the Mazoku Lords had. The Mazoku had long since stopped sending minions for him to destroy. Humans, as he came to realize, didn't seem to possess a better judgment. Perhaps such insensibility was the result of being master-less, he wondered. It seemed to follow some sort of logic; without direction he continued living a mad half-life. The humans, also heeding no demands of a higher power kept coming like… like…

Damn. Like something implacable, but he couldn't recall what. It was as if the humans felt they had something other than monumental stupidity to prove by throwing themselves upon his island and dying in droves.

All in all, he had mixed feelings about this. Despite the disruptions in his daily routine, at least the humans' fear and agony were far sweeter than that of the occasional hapless sea bird.

oOo

The people watching from the original ship brought back tales of a 'Demon Island,' which had only revealed its nature once the doomed landing party had stepped onto the beach. Once the dinghy had slid to a stop on the curiously dark sand of the beach the men had piled out, eager for a bit of dry land after weeks of travel on the ocean. High-spirited laughter turned to shouts of alarm suddenly, as dozens of coiled snake-like black arms had whipped up out of the sand around the men. The observers on the ship could only watch in horror as their comrades were seized. What followed was a terrible, bloody massacre. Men were thrown high into the air as their companions on the beach were torn limb from limb. More arms shot out of the ground to catch the screaming, tumbling men out of mid-air only to have their limbs wrenched off in turn, and their viscera pulled from them. For a second the arms hovered in the air, dying flesh in their coils. Then, with a last spasmodic twitch pulping their victims' bodies, the arms disappeared, leaving pooling blood seeping into the sand and the jellied remains of the former landing party slumping to rest, silent forever.

There had been nothing for the watchers on the ship to do aside from flee the cursed place. The terrible slaughter had only taken place in less than a minute, but it replayed vividly enough in their nightmares.

The story also lived on when they put in to port and it made the rounds like wildfire. Unlike many so-called tall sea tales, no embellishment was ever added to this one—none was needed.

oOo

Eventually, the tale of the Demon Island made its way to other ports and to the interested ear of a certain red-haired sorceress. Lina Inverse was visiting the famous port city of Meruhlia in the interests of sampling the fresh seafood and exotic fruits so common to seaside towns. A few days prior, she had wiped out another bandit gang and was now spending some of the fruits of her spoils on some really fresh fish.

Lina discovered that 'Bloody Bart's Tavern' had, despite its rough reputation and rougher clientele, a world-class cook in the kitchen. So needless to say, while she was staying in town she had become a regular customer of the place. Its reputation never bothered her in the slightest either. Once she had displayed her ability to fireball anyone stupid enough to make rude comments to her, the entire establishment on a whole suddenly developed a far meeker and retiring air. The resulting hike in business had prompted the owner to offer Lina a job as his bouncer but Lina declined it, telling him she was just passing through. After all, the bandits she had rolled… er, punished… had provided her with enough capital to see her through for a few months. She had just finished her lunch when she overheard the story from a group of sailors sitting nearby.

She stood up and moved a little closer. There was only one 'Demon Island' Lina knew of—and that was Wolfpack Island. Some of the sailors were still scoffing at the storyteller, who was getting a little red in the face. Before a fight got the chance to erupt Lina leaned over the man's shoulder and asked, "Where exactly is this place anyway?"

The man looked up, surprise evident on his face at the odd sight of a cute young woman in such a rough sailor's tavern. "It's near Thomulis, lady—but it's the last place you want to go. My nephew was on the first ship. He was one of the first victims, and it's no way for anyone to die…" His voice trailed off in grief.

"Well, for his sake then, I should go and blow that thing up, right?" She stood back from him and grinned. Placing her hands on her hips, she looked at the other men, who stared at the little sorceress in slack-jawed amazement. "So, who knows about a fast ship to Thomulis?"

oOo

Lina leaned on the ship's railing and sighed as she looked down at the water sliding past the hull. Xelloss' long disappearance had always puzzled and concerned her. After all, he was the only living member of her regular traveling companions left. Zelgadis had disappeared, most likely on his never-ending search for a cure. Gourry was so long gone her memories of him no longer hurt. Amelia's great-grandchildren still ruled in Seyruun, but that was no comfort. All the others blurred together in her mind. It had been so long since she'd heard the voice of a friend. Or the voice of a conniving Mazoku who usually masqueraded as a friend… she was growing less picky as the years passed.

She had never told him but she had been glad when Xelloss would still stop in, unannounced as always. Then his visits had abruptly stopped. Was it possible something had taken over and killed or ensnared Xelloss and his Master? The likelihood of that seemed vanishingly small, since the two of them together were strong enough to handle anything she could think of. However, even after one hundred and seventy years there were things Lina still, although let's face it, grudgingly admitted to not knowing and this might involve one of them.

This story was something Lina needed to look into. Xelloss had sort of been her friend, odd as that might seem and if he were still alive… She owed him more times than she cared to count for saving her life. She had to get to the bottom of this. _And now I know where he might be! I'd been to Wolfpack but that was always courtesy of Xelloss' transportation and I _definitely_ can't get there that way_. She looked up at the sky, which had darkened considerably since she had first come above deck. _Nothing to it but to go to sleep then. The ship's Captain said we'd be arriving in the morning._

The port city of Thomulis was actually pretty small compared to Meruhlia, but it was supposed to be close to the Demon Island, and therefore a good place to start. The city was prospering though, due to its new status as a jumping-off point for hopeful adventurers. The talk around town told Lina another interesting fact. The strange thing about the island—well _aside_ from its habit of killing people—was that it was not a fixed point on a map. Well-equipped explorer parties had tried to gain access to it, only to come back unsuccessful after multiple trips out. The business of taking would-be explorers out to the island had become a lucrative one for some of the shipping companies at the bustling port. Satisfaction was not guaranteed due to the island's odd nature and if it did appear, any who set foot on it could not demand their money back if they were disappointed with the island's typically bloody welcome. Lina was disgusted to hear about this new trade which had sprung up to take advantage of the entire situation. She intended on making use of it despite her misgivings. Later, though… She vowed to go to the Demon Island in order to stop the bloodshed. On her return, she'd put an end to the sickening people who profited by it.

She was glad to hear those side businesses had faltered for the time being. The island had not been sighted for a year and interest in visiting it had waned. So when the sightings picked back up again this year, they were not greeted with the same amount of enthusiasm. Also a matter for concern, entire ships were disappearing when they made the trip out and the shipping companies were naturally not keen on losing their ships. Now, only the very determined set out—some of whom did get to the island—only to suffer the same fate as so many others had before.

Disappointingly, Lina found out every time she had gone out had been a bust. Apparently, being a beautiful sorcery genius didn't count for much where the island and its inhabitant were concerned. She'd gone in search of it four times now. So she'd paid her money every time and had been charged a lot every time. She'd heard in town the price of a visit was steep enough but now that entire ships vanished as well, the greedy business owners were hedging their bets by charging even more. This was an annoying development; she had lots of loot still to pay for more trips but they were gouging deeply into her savings. Every time she thought about the situation she just got madder. _There's really no difference between these guys and a bandit boss in the woods_. Between the expenditures of her hard-earned cash and the frustration of a fruitless search, sooner or later she was going to lose her temper. She lay in her bed at the inn she was staying at and she raised a leg up to kick the mattress in her aggravation. _Besides, how in the hell will I save or avenge Xel if his damned island keeps disappearing?_

The next morning, she was interrupted during her breakfast. In Lina's mind, breakfast interruptions were almost inexcusable but the hopeful look on the man's face gave her pause. "Excuse me Miss, but are you really Lina Inverse?" He stood in front of her table holding his hat respectfully before him in his hands. Gray hair topped his skull and the weather-beaten skin of his face and neck looked like leather. He wore non-descript clothing; brown pants and a gray work shirt under a brown vest.

_Well, he's polite, if a little suicidal to bother me while I'm eating_. "Yeah, I am," she said carefully, ready to jump up if he did anything dangerous. The chances of that seemed unlikely—he just looked like an old sailor. "What do you need, Pops?"

He smiled then and his posture relaxed. "Pleased to meet you, my name is Gerad Chorn. The word around town is you're fixing to take on the monster at Demon Island."

"Well I'd like to but that damned island isn't cooperating."

"If I could have a seat, I'll tell you my business proposition."

In a fit of petty showmanship, Lina gestured at a chair. It pulled slowly away from the table and she said, "Sit down then." She smirked at the awestruck look on his face. _Heh heh, still got it!_ She'd never advertised herself with revealing her name these days; it always invited trouble. But a little here and there, especially when people had already figured her out, never hurt.

When he immediately sat down she liked this old man a little more. It was a small gesture but he was braver than most. Some people treated magic like it was an evil taint and some would have left then, or taken another chair at least. She waited for him while he ordered his own breakfast and then asked, "So what's this about a business proposition?"

"I represent a group of bereaved families here in town. We want revenge against that monster for what it's taken from us." His face tightened as he said, "I'm a ship's captain and I'm willing to take you to the Demon Island, free of charge, as many times as you like, 'til you find the thing and kill it."

"That sounds like a good deal. I'm sick of paying through the nose to try and do this town a favor." She glared out the window. "Those shipping owners have no shame!"

"They're disgusting, alright." She looked back to see him clenching his fists on the table. "My son worked for one of those companies, and his ship is missing. That's why I'm offering my services to you and the use of my ship."

That explained things for her. If his son was dead, he wouldn't care about the danger to himself by taking her out there. "Uh, sorry to hear that." She paused a moment while his breakfast was served. "But what about the crew?"

He'd begun eating, but he stopped to answer her. "They will be chosen from other members of our group. They have all lost loved ones too."

"Wow…" Wide-eyed, she wondered how many people were dead now. She guessed it must be a lot.

"Are you interested, Miss Inverse?"

"Of course! Oh, and since we'll be working together, Pops, you can call me Lina!" She grinned at him. "We're gonna get that bastard!"

"Whatever you like, Miss Lina." His hairy gray eyebrows rose hopefully as he glanced down at her half-eaten breakfast. "Are you going to finish that?"

"Of course I am!" Her hands hovered protectively over her food. "If you're still hungry order more!" She started in again on her hapless food, downing it in a hurry.

"It's just as well," he sighed. "I'll take you to see my ship once you've finished."

oOo

This time, her fifth time out, things would be different she was sure. Meeting Gerad Chorn and his ten-man crew dashed her frustration and anger to bits. These people had lost loved ones and they were not idly sitting around bemoaning their fates, they were doing something about it!

The sight of Captain Chorn's ship revived her original enthusiasm too. It had a narrow little hull, which was almost hidden beneath its many sails. The captain called it a clipper. Lina was duly impressed, having never seen one before. To her, it looked faster than hell.

The planning began in earnest. Lina decided the small, fast ship would be able to swing past her destination. Rather than have the people on the ship waiting for her and open to attack, she wanted it to keep going and come back later. As the clipper passed the island, she would jump off and cast Ray Wing and fly the rest of the way. Then she would see what she could see, find the creature responsible for so many deaths, and put it out of everyone's misery.

Time on the small ship went by and Lina's hopes began to fail. She had persuaded Captain Chorn and the crew to remain steadfast. "This is my fifth time out here but my first time on this ship. Meeting you all has made me even more determined, so we have to keep looking!"

She'd started them on a large area search. This lasted for three days and turned up nothing. Lina was frustrated beyond words. Defeated in its hunt for the island, the ship finally headed back to port. This was Lina's fifth failure, and it rankled. Losing was never an option for her, and she was thinking of the destruction she would bring that thing for causing her this sort of trouble. Once she found this hidden Mazoku, she was going to cast Dragon Slave after Dragon Slave until she felt better. That thing was going to learn to regret thwarting Lina Inverse.

"Land ahoy!" She looked up, startled by the man in the ship's nest high overhead.

"What?" Lina pushed off the railing she'd been leaning against. Her eyes darted around, scanning the horizon. She didn't see a thing. The ship was bursting with activity all of a sudden and Captain Chorn was walking towards her, excitement mingled with fear on his face.

"Boskins sees land, Miss Lina." She grinned at the man as he spoke, his awe at speaking to a living legend still evident in his voice. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? There's no returning from that island. You can still walk away from this."

"Of course I'm sure Gerad, and no, I can't walk away from this. Too many innocent people have died because of this thing, and I have to put an end to it." Her grin turned dark and threatening as she continued, "I also have to make that damned Mazoku pay for playing with me like this! Lina Inverse, beautiful sorcery genius, waits for no one!" Her teeth clenched and she shook her fist at the ocean.

The Captain laughed and shook his head. "Well, if you've decided, I'll certainly not stand in your way. He smiled at her then, giving her a fatherly pat on the head and said warmly, "Good luck, Lina."

"No problem, Gerad. Lemme at 'em!" Once that pat on the head might have made her protest but she knew he meant well. She liked that even though he knew she was over a century older than him, he tended to treat her normally.

She still couldn't see anything, so obviously had to get a little higher. She looked at the main mast. _Aha!_ Lina climbed up quickly to join Boskins at the top. "Ok, where is it?"

Boskins pointed. "Towards the west. See it? I'm sure this was one of the first areas we checked."

She could see a thin line of land on the horizon ahead. "Hmmph!" Lina huffed. "That only figures. Mazoku tend to like to taunt people with cheap jokes." She peered at the island as it continued to come into view.

_Wolfpack Island._ She thought to herself. _So this was Xel's home, eh?_ There was quite an amount of dark power present but it seemed to be at rest or maybe just waiting for her. It left a sense of thunderheads hovering overhead regardless of the clear blue sky. Volcanic cliffs rose high above the water on most of the island, tapering down to a dark, gray beach on the western coast. She'd never been outside the fortress the one or two times she'd been brought there, so the sight of the island gave her pause. It was beautiful, in a somewhat stark manner. No wonder the original ship that landed here wanted to rest and re-supply. Deciduous trees covered most of it, even rising to the top of the lone peak of the dead volcano crowning the island. As they neared the island, she could see leaves waving peacefully in the breeze.

This was close enough. _Time to greet Wolfpack's new Master,_ Lina thought. "See you later Boskins!" She jumped from the mast. "Ray Wing!" Flying quickly she left the ship behind her. She glanced back and saw they were turning to leave, just as she'd ordered. They could watch from a safer distance if they chose and come back later to pick her up.

oOo

The mad Mazoku felt a strange sense of familiarity and memory stirring. It wasn't just the approaching ship. That had become common enough, much to his dismay. The constant annoying incursions the humans made had regretfully kept him reminded of their existence. He had tried to remove his island from their ocean but it never lasted and he had to continue to suffer their prying presence. Humans liked to swarm to disaster sites, he remembered, out of some morbid interest. Once he learned simply killing the interlopers didn't work, he'd started destroying the ships entirely. That had proven something of a success. Admittedly, it wasn't a total success; here was another ship he might have to destroy if their purpose seemed to be more than mere sightseeing.

With the appearance of this ship, there was something strange happening. There was someone on it he knew. His attention zeroed in on one human in particular. _A female?_ She certainly was an oddity out of an all-male crew and very unlike them in other ways as well. Where the men were nervous and had such pale, quivering auras, _she_ flamed like a beacon. He _knew_ that bright, dancing aura. He didn't know if familiarity was a good thing but it was the first time he could recall feeling it. The reasons were buried but maybe if this human got closer, he might recapture something of his former self. He was constantly aware of the great gap in himself; the long absence of his dear Master had taken something precious from him. He had decided not to kill the human immediately. He'd catch her and wring all the secrets from her first. Maybe she knew his forgotten name.

Rather than quailing at the sight of his island, her emotions tended towards fury. _What a refreshing notion, _he thought._ She feels no fear._ Between feeding off that bright anger and the challenge this familiar human posed, things started sliding into place in his mind. Maybe he would keep her alive longer, in order to enjoy the delicious taste of her anger. How long had it been since he'd simply done anything other than absorbed the terror of his victims as he quickly rent them to pieces?

Just as he suspected, this human woman wanted to visit his island, too. He'd have been _so_ disappointed if she was just here to sightsee. Of course, he wouldn't have let a piece of his forgotten history slip away so easily. He watched the hauntingly familiar aura as its owner flew from the ship towards him. _Her I would keep for a while, _he thought with satisfaction. He sent an arm whipping through the ocean. _The ship however… now that I could crush—all the better to ensure she has no way of returning_.

oOo

AN: Sorry about this folks, but it's the only way I could throw on my final edit for chapter one. I had to split it. Now the WORLD knows I don't have a cable modem. Damned site.


	2. Chapter One Part Two!

Devil's Advocate

Chapter One:

Part Two

A Slayers fanfiction

By kitsuneonna

Flying low over the beach, Lina saw piles of white bones lying half-buried in the sand. This was certainly the right place. Even without seeing the bones, there was still that feeling of submerged power she got faint whiffs of from time to time. The sudden attack she was expecting hadn't come yet. She looked back suspiciously at the departing ship. She sensed danger but if it wasn't aimed at her then—

She spied a long, black octopus-like arm shooting out along the water towards the retreating ship. "Oh, no you don't!" She powered up a Dil Brand and sent it flying at the attacker. She nodded with satisfaction when the spell hit, sending an explosion of water and steam up into the air.

Lina knew she probably didn't destroy it and she was proved right. It lay in the water, having stopped its attack on the ship. Suddenly the arm shot out of the sea, coming out of the water fast. It arced up high then curved down towards Lina. In the time she had before her dodge she got a good look at her attacker. She was right, this was no natural creature, but was a Mazoku indeed. No sunlight glinted on the limb diving at her. Evil miasma swirled within, much like she'd seen of Seygram's last moments or Dark Star's, for that matter.

_Crap! Move it Lina,_ she chastised herself as she darted out of the thing's way.

At least she had gotten the brute's attention and now it would leave the ship alone. Well, as long as certain people stuck to the plan. She grumbled under her breath, "Get yer ass moving, Gerad!"

She sent more spells flying at her attacker and yelled, "That's right! You're fighting with me, pal! Bring it on!" She swooped to the side and suddenly was outracing a host of the grabbing arms. _That's right boys—eyes on me,_ she thought to herself grimly. As long as she could keep all of this thing's attention, the ship was safe. Now all she had to do was keep it busy until the ship was also out of range.

She darted into the forest, hoping to avoid the reaching arms in the trees. She dodged and taunted as she went, shouting at her pursuer. Tree limbs thrashed wildly in the wake she left.

She was angry but confused as well as she zigzagged through the forest, flying steadily uphill. The thought that this attack was nothing special kept playing in her mind.

"How could something low-level like you take out Xelloss?" She snarled, "Now, he was a real Mazoku, not a second-rater like yourself!" She didn't understand how this thing could be here—what the hell had happened? The island surely would have been obliterated in a fight. As she dodged and dove, avoiding the arms, her glimpse of the island itself showed this fight was the first devastation this place had known in ages. Trees were being uprooted and tossed aside by the frenzied, nameless Mazoku. Still, this was the only action this place had seen in just about forever. Those were some big old trees the thing was knocking over. It just didn't add up.

Lina began to realize she had no hope of winning this fight when all she could do was try to avoid getting snagged. She had to find the thing's head, so to speak, before she could cut it off. Surely there was a lair the creature hid out in and most likely it was the fortress. Her only problem was that nothing she had seen so far called her attention. There were no signs pointing her way helpfully, stating 'Fortress of Dark Lord Xelas this way please,' damn it all. She twitched to the side as an arm shot out of the trees ahead of her. "Whew, that was too close—whoa!"

As Lina skimmed past the arm, a smaller arm erupted from the main one and made a grab for her. It caught her cloak and she released the clasp just in time. It fluttered away and was out of sight in seconds.

Lina sighed at the loss of her cloak thinking, _Damn! I didn't know it could do that! Waitaminute! My pack was in that cloak! MY MONEY WAS IN THAT CLOAK!_ Angry beyond reason, Lina drew more power to her.

"Fireball!" She screamed. "Fireball-Fireball-FIREBALL!"

oOo

Besides this being the most excitement he ever recalled having, he was exhilarated—she did know him! She KNEW his name! He remembered as she spoke it that it was true. _I am Xelloss!_ …_However, she is mistaken in thinking I'm some other Mazoku,_ he thought. _Maybe I didn't look quite like this when she knew me_. He kept up his attack but he tried to relearn how to be careful. He also listened to her taunts and was strangely touched. _She knew I was powerful too. If this girl knows so much about me, maybe she could help me regain my other form_. In his excitement at the thought of capturing her, he started working on growing secondary arms from the ones he already had. That interesting experiment gained him a cloak and a volley of fireballs for his trouble. An arm dropped her cloak off next to him and six purple eyes examined it. _Hmmm,_ he thought as he prodded it. _It is awfully heavy, but now my little prey can fly faster without it_. Despite such an obvious advantage, she was even angrier now for some reason. Had he ever understood humans at all?

So the human was mad about her cloak and he felt this little charade had gone on for far too long. Xelloss had paused in his attack while puzzling over the cloak and apparently, she had made good use of the time. She was closer now, walking now and mumbling under her breath. _Well, I'll have a much better time catching her on the ground—she's such a slippery little thing!_ he thought admiringly and sent a few questing arms out again. Getting closer to her, the vibrations of her voice—_and now wasn't that familiar too?_—were felt along his sinuous limbs. Now he could finally hear her again, he paused. _What's that she's saying?_

"…let the fools who stand before me… be destroyed by the power you and I possess."

_Eh?_ _Isn't that_…

"GIVE ME BACK MY MONEY! DRAGON SLAVE!"

_Shit!_ A hundred violet eyes appeared to open wide in surprise as the explosion caught most of the arms the newly-renamed Xelloss had sent after her. The aftermath of the spell left a smoking crater on his island. It also drove home the point that his learning things shouldn't _have_ to be painful. The loss of those arms had _stung_, damn it. _I didn't know she could do that though—how deliciously destructive! Best to get her before she lays complete _waste_ to this place!_ More arms shot out lightening-quick from the ground around the human and snared her before she could do it again. She didn't have time to act as his coils tightened around her, and the crushing pressure made her body slump limply in his grasp.

Regrettably, Xelloss had also forgotten humans were so fragile…

oOo

The return of consciousness was not welcome, and Lina groaned as she became aware of the dull agony in her ribs. "Recovery," she croaked. Casting a few of those might get her by, but it would be days before she was ready to— "Uh, where the hell am I?" She opened her eyes and regretted it instantly.

"Eeeeyaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!" She tried to scoot away, but the monstrosity had a hold of her.

Several dozens of eyes peered curiously back at her—from far too close a range. _Not only is it ugly beyond reason, it has no concept of personal space,_ her fright-filled mind told her. It filled the room, towering over her. As she reacted to it, black swirls and eddies formed and rotated. It started to hunch and wiggle and the sight of it gyrating with eyes popping up and disappearing all the time filled her with the need to laugh. She would do no such thing however; this weird critter was a Mazoku and the murderer of so many people.

A sighing, broken whisper breathed through the room, resolving into words. "I _know_ you."

She stared incredulously at the thing. "I don't think so, I'm _sure_ I would remember _you_."

The whispering began again. "You do know me. You called my name, human." Lina didn't reply as she was too confused. She hadn't noticed while it was talking, but the odd twisting and wiggling dance had had a purpose after all. It was contracting its tenebrous, wraithlike form to something more compact. As it did so, it kept getting closer.

She still tried to back away again. "Okay then. Tell me how you know me."

"I don't remember. I have been chained to this island for such a long time that I have lost myself."

"Chained?" She looked around, confused still. "I don't see anything."

"They were chains of my own making, when my Master disappeared long ago. I have been vigilantly protecting her lair for so long; I do not remember who I am. You gave me back my name—tell me more!"

It had gotten too close. Lina struggled against its grip. Pain shooting through her ribs, she grated, "I'm not saying a word 'til you back the hell off, buddy! And I don't know what the hell you're talking about with the 'name' thing!"

The Mazoku backed off, and if it was possible something like that could look confused, it did manage to. "You gave me my name back—I am Xelloss."

Before she knew what she was saying, she quipped, "Are you nuts?" When instantaneous death failed to arrive, she peered cautiously at the thing.

"Well, that's what I'm _trying_ to tell you—I actually am." A note of peevishness had crept into the Mazoku's murmuring voice. "I thought if you saw me, you'd remember me."

She looked doubtfully at the creature. "If you're Xelloss—which I'm not ready to concede, you haven't aged well."

"Alright then, what was Xelloss like?" It eagerly leaned closer and while she felt a twinge of discomfort from that, she started thinking. How could she be having such a fairly normal conversation with the same Mazoku who had carelessly slaughtered so many? And seeing as how it had, why wasn't it killing _her_? Could it be? Maybe she should just play along and see where that got her.

"Well, he was pretty damned cute, not scary like you." She glanced up at it. Well, it hadn't killed her yet and did seem eager to hear her talk, so she began. "If you want to know everything, I can start at the beginning. It was a really long time ago and will take at least all day to tell. Don't you have something comfortable I can sit on?"

In lieu of reply, an arm whipped out and through an open door. Shortly, it came back bearing a chair. The Mazoku sighed, "I even swatted some of the dust off. Please continue."

Lina slowly and stiffly sat down. _Kinda plush! Nice!_ "Alright, since you're behaving so well, I guess it's only fair to fill you in." She relaxed and began to speak.

"This was back when I was only fifteen but naturally, as a sorcery genius, I have a good memory." The Mazoku snorted in amusement as she said this but leaned back. "The first time I met Xelloss…."

oOo

Xelloss could barely contain his excitement as she spoke; he remembered everything and more besides. All the little anecdotes she told him brought more bubbling to the surface. The ragged hole in his self was closing. He knew she thought him a liar only claiming to be Xelloss, but he remembered her when he first brought her into the audience chamber. As soon as the sight of her reached his many eyes, memories of her laughing, of her terrorizing bandits and even a few memories of himself being throttled by her emerged. She was the same Lina Inverse with whom he'd had an odd relationship over the course of many long years. The thought that she'd come all this way, after so many years surprised him. He realized as she spoke, her emotions were changing to something else as she warmed to her subject. He recognized that too.

She missed him. She cared very much for him—so much that she'd come all this way to risk her life fighting a strange Mazoku. A Mazoku that, for all she knew, had been powerful enough to overcome him and his Master. She must have felt she might die, but she still came. The emotions were nothing he normally enjoyed but they warmed him in a way. For the first time since before his Master vanished, Lina was making him feel solid and real, his nightmarish half-life melting away. She was giving him back his precious former self. Lina continued speaking but he could hear the sorrow and longing in her voice too. She was giving up so much in her retelling of their stories but he knew how to repay her.

His sighing speech, strengthened to something more like his old self broke into her long oratory. "And then, since I wouldn't give you the book, you chased me through your house and I cheated, remember?" She stopped talking and gawped at him.

"…Xel?" She stared up at him, shock and realization plain on her face.

Xelloss said smugly, "I _told_ you it was me."

Lina recovered from her shock to quirk an eyebrow at him and point. "…Then is your Mazoku form really this ugly?"

Slightly taken aback, his newly recalled pride was stung. "I beg your pardon—I've had a really _rough_ hundred years and now you're here and all you can say is 'you're so _ugly,_ Xelloss!'" He spun wildly for a moment; it was so hard to really coalesce after so long. "I'm trying here… it would help if I could only remember what I looked like."

"Oh! That's easily done." Lina got out of her chair carefully. He watched as she walked over to the door and knelt to get her pack. "You might not remember, but we had a portrait done of us after we came back from one of my big loot runs."

"Uh, now that you mention it, I seem to recall you forcing me into it."

Lina stopped pawing through her pack to turn and gaze at him threateningly. "It _was_ a good idea, no matter what you said at the time! I was happy to be home safe and I wanted to commemorate the first all-profit human-Mazoku venture ever!"

"And you still carry it with you after all this time? Oh Lina dear, you still _care_!" Xelloss laughed at her slight blush.

Flapping a hand at him as if she could wave his comment away she screeched, "Will you cut it out?!" She held up a rectangular board, which on closer inspection was actually two pieces of wood tied together. She backed away towards the door and said "You've gotta see it in the light, since it faded over the years."

He started to follow her but he stopped at the door. Sensing his hesitation, Lina paused and looked behind her. A few rays of sunlight streaming boldly in behind her struck fire in her red hair. "Well, are you coming? Don't you want to see it?"

"I haven't left this room… in over eighty-five years." He whispered hesitantly.

"Well, there's only an hour left of daylight. We could go back inside but then you'd have to wait 'til tomorrow. Do you really wanna do that?"

"You're right." He sighed as he spun slowly through the doorway. Once out, he paused as if expecting to be struck down. When that didn't happen, a dozen eyes opened and looked at Lina.

She grinned at him and continued walking away. "Of course I am! Lina Inverse is always right!"

"So you've always said." He followed her into the waning daylight.

oOo

_Eugh, poor Xel. He always was so proud of his looks. It must be awful for him,_ Lina thought as she turned to see Xelloss following her out of the cave. He wasn't simply a black, cloudy form half-seen in the darkness anymore. Daylight revealed him to be truly revolting. It was like looking at a tornado on a really bad day. Where wisps of his ragged wraithlike form parted, some sort of putrescent-looking, black ropy substance gleamed through. Rather than dwell on what her friend had become, she dropped her eyes back to what she was carrying. She hadn't looked at it in over twenty years. Yet she carried it with her, since it was an important part of her history. She wished she'd thought to do the same with Gourry and Zelgadis, because the truth was, her memories of what their faces looked like were blurry after a hundred years or so. If she ever wanted to see Amelia's portraits, they were still hanging everywhere in Seyruun. But this was hers, a memory of a much happier time in her life.

She began untying the knots holding the pieces of wood together.

"Here." She shook out the delicate canvas, and held it out for him to see. A slender limb carefully lifted it from her hands. She watched Xelloss as several eyes opened to intently study the image of two friends sitting for a long-dead artist. She was astonished to see finally in the last light of the day that they were the same eyes—Xelloss's beautiful violet eyes—gazing down at her picture. That was all the remaining proof she needed. _He may look purely awful right now, but this is my friend, without a doubt._

Two eyes out of a dozen tore themselves away from the canvas and rested on her. "Thank you, Lina. I have to ask that you go elsewhere for a while. The recreation of my form is… not pleasant to look upon."

"Well, suit yourself." Lina squinted up at him. "The ship that brought me… the people on it were expecting me to kill the demon on this island. I want to let them know I'm alright."

An arm waved at her absently as Xelloss continued to study the canvas. "Do what you have to."

Lina took one last look at him before heading downhill. His whirling form had contracted to a neat black conical structure, and only two eyes peered down at the illustration held before him. _Maybe he'll get there… it would be nice to see the face I'm used to, but I guess it's not as important as the fact we're still alive and maybe friends again_.

oOo

Xelloss continued to study the drawing. He recalled the day Lina had dragged him into the small shop she had decided on. He had protested stridently to her that Mazoku just absolutely and unequivocally did _not_ have their portraits drawn. He was putting his foot down, and there was _nothing_ she was going to be able to do about it.

Having so flatly refused her, it was no wonder when she dragged him into the shop anyway. _Lina always got her way, _he thought with a chuckle.

They'd sat in front of an artist for two hours while the man drew. The finished result was something he'd vocally decried to Lina as the work of a total hack. She'd just told him in her not-so ladylike way to piss off and hung it over her desk in her study. Later, he'd snuck in to admire the skillful way the artist had captured his devilish grin and overall _handsomeness_. The picture's colors weren't as vibrant as they had been one-hundred and thirty years ago, but he could recall it clearly: the two of them together on a gray couch, Lina grinning happily, kneeling next to him and holding him still with a friendly headlock. Her arm was supposed to have been draped over his shoulders in a comradely fashion, but it had wrapped around his neck instead. _Probably an ingrained habit after so long,_ he mused. Xelloss had been grinning as well, but whereas Lina's smile was sunny, his had been rather dark and mischievous. His staff lay across his lap and he slyly winked at the artist.

It was time to see if he could manage the change. Xelloss gently placed the canvas on the wooden board she'd kept it in and moved well away from it. He took the mental image of himself as he had been and made it as solid-seeming as he could. Contracting his form even tighter he held it steady. He tried a few times to get approximately the right shape and was unsuccessful. Thankfully, Lina wasn't there to see the half-finished gruesome results. Those attempts were teaching him a few things, though. He tried again and got it right, popping into his old form so suddenly he startled himself.

He smiled as he held up his hands and felt his face. _Good, everything is where it is supposed to be—oops! _He chuckled as he looked down. Certainly Lina might be looking forward to seeing him, but clothing was most definitely in order.

A quarter of an hour later, Xelloss strolled down to the beach. He was enjoying his first walk immensely but he still wanted to hurry. He didn't trust his skill at retaining his shape, so he decided to forego levitation until he was sure he wouldn't lose control. Finally, he came to the edge of the trees and stopped, gazing out to the ship moored by the beach. The sight of a ship so close to his island nearly sent him tumbling back into his old habit of seek and destroy. He wrestled with himself to try and keep his form solid. It shimmered but held. Once he got that under control, he started walking again.

Lina was standing in the midst of a small group of sailors. She was talking excitedly to an old man and Xelloss realized he must be the captain of the ship which brought Lina to him. _That certainly deserves thanks_… Within a few feet of Lina, the sudden memory of why these men were here stopped him in his tracks.

Lina was rubbing the back of her neck and looking out to the horizon. "Heh heh heh, you saw the Dragon Slave from that far out?"

"Yes, it was very impressive and what's better is I was so far away from it when it happened!" The old man smiled at her, and saw Xelloss just behind her. "Oh, who's this?"

Lina turned, a wide-eyed look of astonishment on her face as she saw Xelloss. "Eh? He's my friend… that lived here." She trailed off, uncertain how to tell them the murderer of their loved ones stood before them.

Xelloss took up where she left off without blinking. "Yes, Lina saved me. I'm glad you brought her."

The old man glanced doubtfully back at Lina. "So… the monster?"

"Is dead, yes." Xelloss finished for him. "Lina obliterated it." He smiled at her.

"Well, that's fine to hear. I guess you two will need a ride back to the mainland?"

"Ah, no thank you." Lina still watched silently as Xelloss spoke. "I have a lot of cleaning to do." He looked down the beach at the piles of bones. "What would you like to do about them?"

"Well, I suppose we should take them home with us." The man gazed sorrowfully down at the remains. "There's no way of telling who's who in that mess, but I'm sure folks would like to have them back."

oOo

Later, after they had helped the men stow the bones on their ship, Xelloss stood with Lina on the beach as they watched the ship sail away. Xelloss peered surreptitiously at Lina out of the corner of his eye. Twilight had passed and a full moon was climbing into the sky. Its silver light bathed her features with its cool, calm beauty and he marveled again at what she had done for him.

He had been totally lost to the world, caught under the shadow of madness and loss. It had been a half-life at best and he realized Lord Xelas would not have approved. His Lord's absence still distracted and pained him horribly, but maybe with Lina's help, he might now be in a position to do something about it. Before, he had not even had that hope—hadn't even known it existed, until Lina returned.

Lina had come and she had risked throwing her life away for his sake. That was what human friendship was, he understood that now. He'd always professed to be her friend, but hadn't grasped its meaning until today. So many years he'd been around her and he had never tried to comprehend it. In those days, he'd viewed their so-called friendship as something of a joke, or used it to serve his purposes. Now he owed everything to this strange human woman who could care about a Mazoku. The best he could do in return was to attempt to figure it out.

Lina caught his eye and tilted her head back to smile warmly at him. "Glad to have you back, Xel."

"Glad to _be_ back, Lina dearest," he said brightly, his customary smile settling into place. He leaned closer to her and clasped his hands to his chest. "Is this where I declare, '_My Hero,_' and swoon into your arms?" Xelloss laid it on thick and batted his eyelashes at her.

Lina burst into delighted giggles and gleefully clapped him on the arm a few times. Finally she said, "No, you don't have to do that Xel. I did it 'cause we're old friends, you know that."

There was that word again, and the warmth of her feelings proved her heart was in the saying of it. Xelloss thought,_ Friendship with a human, eh? I'm already a Masterless abomination, so this is just a drop in the bucket. Besides, Lina deserves that I try it for real this time_.

"Well," he paused awkwardly as Lina watched him curiously. He pulled her to his chest and hugged her. "You can't really expect me to make a habit of this but…" He felt Lina tense up in surprise, but she then relaxed, putting her arms around him to hug him back. Resting his chin on Lina's shoulder, he said softly, "This is a common practice between friends, isn't it?"

When they finally broke apart, he saw her face was wet with tears. Lina's eyes glistened as she smiled up at him and Xelloss felt he had done the right thing. Observing human interaction had taught him a few things, at least.

oOo

Having Xelloss back and whole was better than she could have dreamed, but—Lina yawned. "Ok, I've had it for the day, let's go."

Xelloss hefted the pack full of food the sailors had left for them. "Shall I bring this back for you?"

Lina appreciated his gesture, but she couldn't resist a little dig. "Sure, since _somebody_ cracked my rib, that'd be a real help."

Xelloss narrowed his eyes and looked at her with concern as he protested, "But Lina dearest, I had no idea at the time you were so delicate!"

_At least someone thinks 'The Enemy of all Who Live' is delicate._ Lina mused, _of course I'm being graded on a Mazoku's scale, but it's something at least_. As they started back uphill, she said cheerfully, "Well, I forgive you then!"

He grinned at her and continued to lug the pack along. As they got within sight of Xelloss's former prison, he glanced at her sidelong. "If I am forgiven, will you share some of your food with me then? You know I don't need it but I smell tea, and that's something I've missed, too."

Nothing could bust her good mood, even if it meant she had to share her food. "Well, since I'm starving, normally I would say no, but I guess in light of the situation I can be lenient over a few things."

"Is that so?" Xellos chirped.

Lina got a sinking feeling as she turned to look at him. He had stopped next to her wearing his typical smile. He balanced the pack on his back and abruptly leaned forward to kiss her. Just as Lina was still trying to register the shock of his warm lips on hers, they were gone. Xelloss jumped back and darted giggling for the cave, running like his ass was on fire. She grimaced and thought, _Oh, it will be_…

"Damn it, Xelloss! Give a Mazoku an inch and he takes a league!" Lina stomped through the door after the giggling Mazoku.

oOo

(cue dramatic music of your choice)

TBC…

oOo

How in the WORLD could you leave without reading the all-important… AUTHOR'S NOTES?!?

---Just as a general sort of announcement to the 'nets: Thekiwithatflew is forever welcome to wreak her Froot Loop Ninja™ havoc at my place because she encouraged me (with the most creative death threats if I didn't) to write this after I blathered on about this cool idea I had. And also, thank you Lina Gabriev for pointing out a ton of inconsistencies that I've tried to fix. The way I look at it, you must've liked this story a lot to go into such depth and I really appreciate it!

So finally after waiting over one year, I finally get around to the much needed re-edit. My eternal adoration and praise go to the Prime Minister for being the most thorough and exacting beta, not to mention her sense of humor regarding my particular writing foibles... Last but certainly not least, thank you to the linaxelloss Yahoo gang! I would have stuttered out somewhere in the sixth chapter of AFIA if it weren't for them!

Sweet Cthulthu! Is this starting to sound like the friggin' Oscars or what? I just really feel like I've accomplished something with the re-edit! SHARE IN MY JOY DAMN IT!! SHARE IT! XD Thanks!


	3. Chapter Two: Solid State

AN: I LIIIIIIIIIVE! RAWR! (Stomps around living room woodenly…)

Oh, have I been forgetting disclaimers? If I owned Lina and Xelloss, my home would be quickly reduced to a gigantic crater in no time. I don't so it's not. Enjoy!

Devil's Advocate

Chapter Two:

Solid State

"Where the hell are we going? Hey! Answer me you…"

Xelloss casually strolled down one of the main halls of his Master's fortress, a broad and carefree grin on his face as he gazed from side to side, cheerfully tut-tutting the general mess the place was in. He also studiously ignored the almost constant stream of imprecations and threats Lina called after him as she followed. The exact content of what she said to him mattered little, so long as she said it with _feeling_.

Indeed, her irritation was putting him in such a fine mood he almost felt like whistling.

What a good thing it had been for her to stay! Of course, if she'd decided to do otherwise, he was certain he would have found a number of things to pique her interest. Wolfpack Island had so many secrets that sharing a few with her wouldn't make much of a difference. So when Lina had awakened earlier, he had promised her 'a treat most black sorcerers would sell their own mothers for'. As he'd predicted that was intriguing enough for her.

Of course, he'd then walked away without another word and expected her to follow. She had, but not without voicing her misgivings… and a few random death threats.

The Mazoku priest sighed happily as he basked in the flow of Lina's blistering negativity and thought, _Ah, just like old times!_

However, he found himself alone in treading giddily down memory lane. Lina suddenly appeared before him, blocking his path. He stopped, smiling down at the small sorceress as she glared peevishly up at him.

"What's so special that you've got to show me instead of telling me?" she asked suspiciously. "And don't you dare say 'it's a secret', or you'll get pounded to a pulp, buddy!" Lina shook a bare-knuckled fist under his nose for emphasis, but Xelloss shrugged.

"I'm leading you to the first place I opened my eyes to see." Xelloss edged around her and continued striding down the hall. He heard the rapid tapping her boots made on the stone flagging as she hurried after him. Again, he ignored her complaints as they started up anew. They really weren't very far now and she would see what he'd meant earlier.

Lina caught up with him just as he halted in front of a very grand set of doors. He turned to her and said with a touch of the old dramatic flair in his voice, "Words fail to describe a feast for the mind such as this."

Lina's mercurial temperament switched from frustration to excitement in a flash. "Woo hoo hoo!" She jumped up and down, grabbing his cloak and trying to pull him in a few different directions because she still had no idea where they were headed. "I like feasts of all sorts! Let's see this indescribable wonder! Lead on to the goodies, uh, your hallowed Mazoku birthplace!" She added gleefully as she hung on his cloak.

Xelloss figured Lina's death grip on his cloak was just in case he suddenly had a change of heart and tried to run away. There was no chance of that, he knew. If there was a way to sell Lina into staying on the island for an unspecified length of time, this was it.

He looked up at the doors nervously. If there was one thing in the wide world he feared, it was the wrath of his Master. Leading a human to her most protected place on the island he felt was the one indignity which Lord Xelas would have destroyed him out of hand for… but he didn't see where he had a choice in the matter, because during the night, Xelloss had come up with a plan.

He wanted to hope that Lord Xelas still existed somehow, but he didn't feel her anywhere. Not even when he had finally regained full possession of his faculties had he been able to reach her. That must mean she was gone for good, right?

With the loss of his Master so long ago had come the loss of his sense of self. In his long experience, he knew it was only natural for Mazoku to live for the will of their Lords and betters. However, in the unthinkable event of a Lord's disappearance, it was again only natural there would be diminishment, if not the total ruination of the minion. As he had found, it certainly had led to madness.

But of course, all had not been lost, after all. Dear girl that she was, Lina had shown up to help jog his memory. Deep down, he was horrified he'd let himself fall so far and he needed no repeats. Therefore, if he wanted to remain in his restored state in perpetuity, it seemed obvious he would have to keep Lina around.

So the night before, as she slept, he had devised his plan. He would lead her to Lord Xelas' lab. As a sorceress, Lina was uniquely qualified for researching his Master's notes, right? And as Lord Xelas was sure to have over a millennium's worth of notes, Lina was sure to be busy for a while. That way Lina could research Lord Xelas' disappearance and Xelloss could search for a permanent return to sanity. The first goal didn't seem likely, but it was a tool to achieve the second, in which Lina's continued presence was necessary for him.

Besides, it wouldn't do at all to simply shoo her off the island, would it? Not when he was supposed to be so overjoyed at seeing his 'friend' again, right?

His musing was suddenly cut short as he was dragged off balance, bringing him back to the purpose at hand. Lina was trying to pull him down the hallway, but was succeeding admirably in knocking him over.

Trying to check his stumbling Xelloss asked, "Lina? Where are you going?" A mischievous smile spread across his face as he asked, "Did I forget to say that _this_ is it?" He gestured at the doors they stood in front of. Lina solicitously helped him back to his feet, only to abruptly knock him off them again.

Xelloss looked up at her, somehow failing to be surprised as she towered over him. She shouted, "What the hell do you mean 'this is it'?! Why didn't you say so in the first place? You are so useless sometimes, Xelloss!"

Much to Lina's obvious irritation, Xelloss began to giggle at her. "But Lina, I was simply collecting my thoughts before opening the door! YOU were the one who wanted to charge all over the fortress!"

Still laughing he got back to his feet, unaided by the fuming sorceress this time. "I could have just let you drag me all over the place and led you back here once you'd tired yourself out!" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he regarded her. "That might not have been a bad idea…" he mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"Oh, nothing!" He chuckled as he placed a hand on the door. Thank goodness for him Lord Xelas had never bothered locking it. She'd always trusted him implicitly with never disobeying her orders. Xelloss felt his good humor draining away into the dull emptiness he felt in his Master-less existence. Lina seemed to sense his mood and stood back as he tried the doors.

At first they didn't seem to want to budge and he pushed against them even harder. Xelloss winced as the doors to his Master's lab made a horrifically loud squealing groan as they opened. It had been over a century since they'd opened last and now they, just like everything else in the fortress, needed his attention.

He grinned sheepishly back at Lina as she stood behind him to his right. Her arms were crossed and she smiled mockingly at him and asked, "Was that the 'indescribable' part you mentioned earlier?"

He chuckled as he replied, "I suppose so…" Even though Xelas had restricted her lab to him, he deemed it was the singular thing on the island which would pique Lina's thirst for knowledge. Therefore he was leading her through its doors despite a lifelong trained aversion. Or he would have led her, given a chance.

"Lighting!" Lina called as she dashed past him. Xelloss stared after her, cursing himself for forgetting one of Lina's special charming qualities: her greed. She was always taking the lead, always wanting to be first. He could only thank the Mother of All Things that Lord Xelas hadn't left any traps to kill the unwary.

Xelloss breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Lina dance and skip around the room, muttering excitedly. Still, he paused to glance down suspiciously at the threshold before stepping gingerly over it. Nothing continued to happen to him… so he relaxed and lit a few more candles with a careful wave of his hand. Dust swirled thickly in the old lab as Lina darted from one table to another taking in the collection of odd magical paraphernalia which filled the room. To bring her back to earth, he asked anxiously, "Is it acceptable, Lina dearest? You will be able to puzzle something out of this?"

Lina paused in mid-dash and turned around to face him. Her face shone with excitement and her eyes nearly glowed with it. She answered in a dreamy tone, still not taking her eyes from the room's contents. "Yeah, I think this'll do… I don't know what this thing is," she pointed at a glass box which, if Xelloss remembered correctly, had once glowed and made crackling noises. He had no ideas on its purpose either, as he'd only seen it in action over Xelas' shoulder once. "But I'll do my best!"

Then she appeared to snap back to reality, and gave Xelloss a hard look. The dreamy tone had been replaced with an accusing one as she growled, "Wait a minute. Xelloss, are you inferring I'll be on my own here?"

"Well yes, I suppose I am." He smiled and scratched his neck as Lina began stalking towards him.

"I thought you were going to help! How am I going to figure all this out? Don't tell me you're going to be useless about this too!"

Xelloss began to back away from her. "But Lina, there's so much cleaning up I need to do after our little battle! The island's in a shambles!" He scolded her, saying, "_Someone_ left a gigantic crater on it!" By now, Lina had reached him and was leaning so close she almost touched him.

_She's so cute when she's angry!_ Xelloss bent down and kissed her on the nose, knowing how it flustered her. "Just be patient! Once I am done fixing things up, I will come help where I can."

Lina glared at him still, but he could tell she wasn't going to try hurting him. She stepped back and casually put her hand on the door. She grinned at him, but then snarled almost sweetly, "Just don't make me wait too long." Then, without warning, she slammed the door in his face.

"Ow… Lina, you're so mean!" So much for his intuition.

Her muffled voice came at him from the other side of the door. "Quit whining and get to work! We've got tons to do and if you're going to be a pain in the ass about it, have my dinner ready in four hours!"

"As you command, Lina dearest." Xelloss backed away from the door and assessed the damage to his battered face. He turned away grinning, thinking of his human companion fondly. _I'll keep it to myself, but there are times when Lina resembles Lord Xelas a little too closely_.

oOo

Xelloss watched Lina as she slept, despite the fact there were other things he had to do around Wolfpack. He hadn't seen much of her in the past week, aside from the usual at her mealtimes, so the solitude was beginning to grate on him. Although she was near, this wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind when he'd sat next to her… she was boring when she slept. He sighed, half in the hopes the sound would wake her up, also because he was procrastinating and he knew it. Over the past week he had cleaned the entire fortress, thoroughly eradicating its accumulation of dust and vermin. Now that was out of the way, the big job awaited him. The island outside the fortress was still in a shambles. He had yet to finish repairing the damage their little fight had caused… in particular, filling in Lina's crater. It wasn't a difficult job, it just promised to be tedious and he didn't look forward to it. He looked back to her lying under her blankets when her hand shot out of the blankets and grabbed his arm.

Curiosity piqued, he leaned closer to see if she was awake when she mumbled, "Waiter… Five chicken dinners and four House Specials please." She then dropped his arm and Xelloss chuckled as Lina turned away and began snoring lightly. Lina tossed restlessly in her sleep and murmured something else but he couldn't quite make it out. Her movement slowed as she finally rolled over to face him.

He leaned in again to lift a few locks of hair out of the way in order to look more closely at her face. He thought as he noticed a fine little line between her eyebrows, _Funny, that wasn't there before, was it? _Thanks to her mastery of magic as well as her incredible capacity, Lina was much more long-lived than other humans… yet even she still aged. It was a sobering thought. Curiosity got the better of him and he gently lifted the blanket to study her. She slept in her underwear, due to an obvious lack of sleepwear on Wolfpack Island. _Little human girl… the years have changed you finally._ His eyebrows rose with his surprise as he noticed he couldn't exactly call her a little girl anymore; he noted a couple of new developments. _When that had happened? I wonder if it makes her happy?_ He replaced the blanket and sat back down.

Lina frowned and rolled away from him, snuggling deeply into the blankets. She'd been sleeping for quite some time and he had lit candles in the dark room, hoping their light would wake her. At times she'd grimaced as she traveled the dark lands of human dreams, but she had generally continued to snore softly and peacefully. Yes, he was putting off finishing his duties, but he wanted to be near his 'savior' for a while longer.

_That's an amusing concept,_ he thought. _A human savior for a Mazoku is a ridiculous notion._ _I am grateful for what Lina did, but still I don't quite understand _why_ she did it. I understand self-sacrifice well enough…_ After all, he'd killed enough misguided fools in his lifetime to recognize it when he saw it in Lina. She had gambled her life to save people she didn't even know from a Mazoku of unknown abilities. She said it was for the sake of their friendship. Strangely, he almost felt it too, but the alien emotion slipped away so easily. However, that night on the beach, as he had stood next to her and they'd watched the ship leave together, he had vowed to try his best. He was unable to feel for Lina quite what she felt for him. So instead he would continue to watch over her and protect her, just as his Lord Xelas had ordered well over a century before. As a Mazoku cut off from their glorious traditions of hierarchy, he was nothing, an abomination. Despite that, he could still follow his orders.

Every line of thought brought him back to his Lord's disappearance. He buried his head in his hands and rubbed his face, mulling over the situation. Xelloss knew he'd never forget what it had been like to lose his identity to madness after the first horrible shock of finding his Master vanished without a trace. There had been nothing he could have done, and the knowledge of it had unhinged him. All his wonderful power at the beginning hadn't helped him. He had fought to establish some sort of link to Xelas, but failed over and over. Maybe duty demanded he report to another Dark Lord, but how was he to know his Master hadn't disappeared due to their scheming? Sometimes Lord Xelas had cursed the two who were left for their unwillingness to understand the precarious position their race had been put into. He himself had never really had dealings with the two remaining Dark Lords, but he knew his Master had and they had frustrated her. In that light, he wasn't sure he wanted to have anything to do with them. He had decided to stay put and wait for her, as surely she couldn't have been gone for good. Then as the years set in, he'd forgotten everything during his long descent into hell.

It wasn't the first time he'd had this particular line of thought. On some of his more lucid days, he would consider his situation as best he could, but the line of reasoning had often descended into the same circular logic. Now, as he followed the familiar path in his mind, his form began to change unbeknownst to him. Skin and hair darkened, sliding together as if melting. His form began to whirl and spin as his thoughts led him down again.

oOo

An errant breeze on Lina's skin woke her up and she turned to face the wall and burrowed deeper into her blankets. She'd had a long day and night, so she wanted to relax a little longer before starting her morning. She opened her eyes fuzzily. She could see light coming from somewhere. _Morning, huh?_ She had no idea what time it really was, remembering this room had no windows. She could see though and the way the light flickered she knew Xelloss had set out some candles for her. More than a few, it looked like. Without moving, she could count four on the table across from the bed. He was being very thoughtful towards her, which seemed a bit off even for Xelloss. It was nice though to imagine he was reciprocating her feelings of friendship. She knew exactly how stupid that sounded, but she'd been without a real friend for so long, it was fun to imagine. She'd only been here for a week and expected to be here for who knew how much longer, so her stay might as well be pleasant. After all… she had promised she would do her best to look into the Beast Master's disappearance.

This was exactly what she'd thrown herself into. Every day since Xelloss had shown her to his Master's lab, she had been learning its organization, the order the notes were stored and which apparatus she should leave alone until later. These tasks were important. There was no way of making a decent stab at researching Xelas' disappearance without trying to duplicate the direction her studies had gone. In fact, just yesterday she had unearthed Xelas' oldest notes. The paper they had been written on was crumbling with age, but the clear and concise script of the Mazoku Lord had been thankfully legible. Her only worry was simply that the notes might not survive her handling of them as she studied and what if she missed something important scribbled hastily along a crumbling edge?

_Never mind that, it's not the time to brood,_ she thought. She'd buried herself in her work and last night had been a late one. She'd stayed in the lab all day, reading Xelas' notes. When she'd been done she was so tired Xelloss had wasted no time in showing her into a room with an actual bed in it. Up until then, Lina had been sleeping on her bedroll under the stars while Xel had finished cleaning the lair. Lina had walked over to it and run her fingers over the massive footboard. The entire frame was huge and ornately carved out of some dark red wood to resemble delicately coiling clouds. From what she knew of Xelloss, it did fit his tastes although Lina thought it was a bit over the top. When she sat down on it, it seemed like no one had ever used it. The mattress was still firm with no dents. Xelloss' explanation had been simple. Despite having no use for a bed, he'd liked it.

"We have no need for human comforts such as this, but I found this bed hundreds of years ago, and considered it so well-crafted I wanted to keep it. Consider it a museum piece."

That had been as good a reason as any and she had been so tired by that time she hadn't bothered to ask the obvious, 'Wow, who'd you have to kill to get this?' She simply didn't want to know.

It had been comfortable enough, and her sleep had been quiet and uninterrupted. She thought of her host and smiled. It was good to have Xel back. She'd even missed getting pestered by him over the long years, so she didn't mind it as much as she used to. Sooner or later though, she had to remember to toughen up on him, or he would soon be getting away with murder. Heh, only as a matter of speaking… Still smiling, Lina turned over and opened her eyes.

"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAGH!!!" Something horrible was looming over her, ready to strike! Why hadn't she sensed—wait a minute. A multitude of surprised violet eyes gazed back at her from a familiar dark and turbulent miasma.

Xelloss whirled and bounced, saying brightly, "Good morning, sunshine!"

"Xel, you jerk! What the hell are you trying to do, scare me to death?" Lina sat up straighter in bed and glared at the nightmarish creature looming over her.

"But watching you sleep is boring, Lina dearest!" For a moment dozens of eyes gazed earnestly back at her. "I had to liven things up somehow!"

Lina decided she might never get used to hearing the strange dichotomy of Xel's lovely tenor voice coming from something so hideous. She let out a huge sigh. "Whew… be still, my pounding heart."

"Was it that bad?" A few more eyes formed to watch her reactions. They crinkled in amusement as the silence stretched on, Lina staring at him crossly.

When no answer was made he shrugged, his numerous eyes winking out as he gave up trying to goad her any further. Xelloss's form whirled chaotically, instantly replaced by the more familiar, smiling human guise which, though more annoying, was much more welcome.

"Thank you. Now you can cook my breakfast too, smartass." Turning away from him, Lina sighed and sat up straighter in bed. She began to stretch, her arms reaching for the ceiling as her head lolled to the side. She pushed the blankets away from her and bent forward, stretching her back in a forward arch.

She paused, listening. _Something's wrong,_ she thought. _It's much too quiet in here. Shouldn't I be hearing him getting breakfast ready by now? The clanging of pots and pans, maybe?_

Lina pulled the blankets back up to her chest and sure enough, there was Xelloss standing nearby. He was leaning back with one leg drawn up, his foot braced against the wall. Her brows knitted together in irritation as Xelloss crossed his arms, tilted his head to the side and smiled winningly at her. _Oh, you're caught and you know it buddy,_ she grumbled to herself. "What do you think this is, some kinda peepshow? Beat it!"

"Oh dear, don't mind me Lina. Please continue… human morning rituals can be so fascinating!"

Lina wrapped her blanket around herself and glared at the still grinning and more importantly, unmoving Mazoku. "That's it, Xelloss. You're outta here. Now."

"If you're afraid I'll see you in your underwear," he intoned solemnly, "have no fears on that account. I looked while you slept!"

Lina turned red and exploded, "You WHAT?! That's it! You are _toast_, you pervert!" She sprang out of bed and advanced on Xelloss, replacing her sense of modesty with anger.

Xelloss' eyes widened as he watched her approach. Pointing down at Lina's chest, he gleefully quipped, "I was right! They _are_ bigger!"

"Augh!?" Lina was aghast for a moment, but the warm glow of impending murder filled her heart. She raised her arms and shouted, "Fireball, damn you! Fireball-fireball-FIREBALL!!!"

A few minutes later, she threw the singed but still giggling Mazoku out of the room and huffed angrily, "Breakfast or death, Xelloss! Your pick, damn it!" When she heard the rattling of pans finally, she leaned against her door sill and sighed, "My vacations are the worst ever…"

oOo

Xelloss flipped some fried eggs from the pan to a waiting plate and started on a new batch. Regardless of the fact he was currently up to his armpits in domestic duties, he was in a good mood. Lina was bathing, but he no longer needed to anger her; there was no reason to push things too far. Rather, he wondered good-naturedly at the notion of a domestic Mazoku. It was ridiculous and he knew he'd be laughed at until the end of the world for it if anyone knew. However, he didn't think he had much choice in the matter. In this case, to look out for number one (himself), he had to look out for number two (Lina). So in order to keep Lina happy and busy working on the dilemma of his missing Master, he would look after her needs. He tossed the pan's contents onto the mountain of eggs which had accumulated and sighed disgustedly.

He just didn't know how he would explain to his Master when she got back why her lair smelled like human food. That was the important thing to remember… 'when the Master got back'. That phrase helped him immensely.

_Or maybe not,_ he thought as he recalled his transformation while Lina slept. While he spent time agonizing over his past earlier, he didn't realize he had popped into his true form again until Lina screamed. She probably thought he wanted to scare her, but in truth, he had been every bit as surprised as her. The regression had happened without his conscious will, the thought of which disturbed him. It still meant he was a hairsbreadth from madness. Lina's presence might have restored him for the most part, but apparently without interaction he could forget himself again. If he was to always be on guard against himself, he would remain crippled. His mind was his power after all… what was true of the Golden Lord was true of all Mazoku.

_But,_ he brightened as the thought occurred to him, _Lina can stick around! I'll just have to keep finding more reasons to stay with her if her research doesn't pan out._

But how long would that last though? Lina might live a very long time by human standards, but his life would last far longer. A rough guesstimate put her remaining life at five centuries and counting down, which _seemed_ like plenty of time. Xelloss knew better though.

He always felt like he had just turned his back merely a moment and the creatures which had so _cleverly_ climbed out of the primordial ooze were suddenly building huts out of mud, much to his delight. For laughs, he'd blasted some of those huts and their owners into dust before disappearing again, only to find later that the hut builders were building entire cities! So time could fly right by him and he was sure soon enough, he might be right back where he'd started.

The knowledge that his time with Lina was finite weighed very heavily on him. The notion of another, permanent descent into insanity with nothing aside from Lina's desiccating corpse for company was something he found not at all amusing. He knew she would never pledge anything with him--the Mother of All knew he'd tried in the past--so that was either endlessly delayed or even out of the question.

Surely this line of thought was one he could save for a later date. Lina had only been hard at work for a week and that didn't give her much time for discoveries, sorcery genius or no. He found that impatience didn't suit him well and rather than worry needlessly, perhaps he could interrupt his cleaning duties for a visit to the lab? He could satisfy his curiosity in the guise of dropping in to give Lina a helping hand. He could also admit to himself the idea of poking around his Master's lab held a certain degree of titillation. He'd let habit rule him since Lina had started her work and dropped easily back into his policy of never setting foot in the lab, but now with Lord Xelas gone, it was no longer forbidden, correct?

Besides, he'd always thought it curious that a being of such tremendous power as Lord Xelas was would have need of a laboratory.


End file.
